Back from St-Petes

Hi friends,

so I'm back from a crazy weekend of rushing, yet fun.

I'm so tired right now that even thinking about writing about it all seems pretty daunting, but I do want to keep you posted, so here are some very brief points;

1) the train ride there was...I'm not sure how to put it. I guess it changes based on whatever your standard is regarding luxury vs. unluxurious, but lets say it left many things to desire regarding basic hygene, BUT if you could get over the REALLY dirty bathroom/toilet, and the really cramped areas, it wasn't bad at all...I actually really liked the experience. I truly enjoyed swinging around like a monkey climbing up to my bunk. Going was worse than coming back, since a usually 7-9 hour ride was in fact a 12 hour ride, and the train was super old, but what more can you ask for a trip that cost less than 500 roubles? (That's about 20 bucks! From Moscow to St-Petersbourg!!)

2) Had to do only a fraction of the Hermitage. A museum that supposedly puts The Louvre to shame; DAMN was it big

3) Saw ridiculous amounts of fountains in this gigantic park outside of St-Petersbourg called Peterhof...the park was (appropriately named) Peterhof Park...and it was AWESOME because there were trees EVERYWHERE (which you DON'T see in Moscow), and gigantic multicolored leaves everywhere. Truly an Autumn paradise. George, Elena and her friend Marina and I galavanted like children; taking pictures and frolicking in the leaves; that was really cool.

4) Bought a red jacket! (WHOO HOO! I love red. I love jackets! Only normal to combine them. Will post pictures soon. ...yes, yes, I know I keep saying that, and at this point, I don't think I will EVER have the internet set up in my flat, but I remain optimistic. (Or at least, I know I'll be doing it at school sometime this weekend.)


So that's it for now.
George and I are spending some time together; I took him to my fave Indian resto yesterday and we ate like royalty. And TONIGHT; sushi with Elena and her hubby. SO glad about that!

Miss you all a lot.
looking forward to some sanity and rest and HOPEFULLY some communication from friends
hugs
hearts
lovelovelovle
patey:]